Arch massaging shoe



Dec. 13, 1960 c. sAvlN ARCH MAssAGING SHOE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 24, 1959 INVENTOR. 'OeA/z/as .52 w/v Dec. 13, 1960 c. sAvlN ARCH MAssAGING SHOE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1959 FIG. 7

IIA

l N V EN TOR. @OPA/fz (as JA v//v States Pate This invention relates to footwear and more particularly to an arch massaging shoe or sandal.

The primary object of the present invention resides in the provision of an arch massaging footwear designed to massage the instep of a wearers foot while Walking, dancing, etc.

In carrying out the invention, a massage member is pivoted to a portion of the sole of the footwear which in itself is articulated to the other portion thereof. Then, because flexing of the foot of the user such as will happen during walking, dancing, or other activity will cause relative movement of one portion of the soles with respect to the other, the massage member will be cammed out of its recess and against the instep of the user thereby providing eiective and desirable therapeutic treatment for the wearers foot.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a therapeutic arrangement for the sole of an article of footwear such as a shoe, shower clogs, beach sandal, dancing slipper, or the like which may be worn for short periods or for long duration and with great comfort by the user.

Many people are subject to muscle cramps in their arches when engaging in swimming or when taking a shower. The employment of the present invention will result in a gentle massage to the muscles most subject to cramps, thereby eliminating the pain of such muscle irregularities which are often extremely dangerous when swimming.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an article of footwear designed to provide therapeutic benefits which can be constructed from wood, plastic, leather, cloth compositions or laminates, light metals, and various other readily available materials at a relatively low cost.

Still further objects and features of the invention reside in the provision of a therapeutic footwear that is simple in construction, eicient in operation, highly attractive in appearance and elfective in use.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an article of footwear adapted to provide elfective arch support for the wearers foot.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this therapeutic footwear preferred embodiments of which have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of example only, wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of a beach sandal constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View as taken along the plan of line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to that in Fig. 2 illustrating the -article of footwear during movement While the wearer is taking a step and showing initial movement of the massaging member;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Figs. 2 and 3 showing successive movement of the article of footwear and in particular that of the massage member;

kfice Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form of the invention employing guard means for the massage means;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section as taken along the plane of line 6 6 in Fig. l;

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view as taken along the plane of line 7-7 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the invention.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, an article of footwear generally indicated by reference numeral 10 is illustrated and comprises the present invention.

This article of footwear 10 is shown without an upper, it being noted that the upper may be constructed, for example, out of simple strips of canvas or the like when the article of footwear is designed for use as a beach sandal or shower clog or may be made of complex leathers, cloths, of rich and varied designs, such as are often used for ladies dancing slippers.

No particular type of upper is shown.

The article of footwear may readily be molded from any suitable synthetic plastic material such as polystyrene, cellulose acetate or any other various readily available synthetic resins. Alternatively, the invention can be manufactured from conventional materials such as leather, wood, cloth, laminates or the like and even light metals may be employed.

The invention includes a sole 12 having a toe part 14 preferably of an upwardly concave shape as at 16 and downwardly convex as at 18 which toe part 14 is provided with a recess 20 therein as well as a pair of knuckles 22 and 24.

A heel part 26 is provided with a rather deep recess 28 therein, projecting knuckles 30 and 32 which cooperate and lieV alongside the knuckles 22 and 24, and a shallow recess 34 thereto which the knuckles 22 and 24 extend.

The heel portion 26 may have substantially no great height or as shown may be provided with a medium size heel 36. When the invention is used on a ladys dancing slipper, a relatively lhigh heel can readily be employed.

Hinge pintles 38 and 4t) hingedly secure the toe part 14 -to the heel part 26. The massage member 44 is mounted by means of an elongated pivot pin 42, offset from the pintles 38 and 40, which extends through the toe part 12 and through the massage member 44 disposed in the opening 46 dened by the recesses 20 and 28 which are in alignment with each other.

The massage member 44 is disposed centrally therefor beneath the instep of the wearers foot, though it may extend slightly under the ball of the foot to provide minor action on the metatarsal, if such is desired in particular cases.

The massage member 44 has an arcuated upper surface 48 designed to comfortably engage the under surface of the wearers foot andthe massage member 44 is very carefully finished to provide an extremely smooth non-irritating surface. It may be given a contour as prescribed by a physician and it is to be recognized that this atricle of footwear can be designed as adapted for either foot when used as a shower clog or for either the left foot or the right foot when used for other types of footwear, as may be desired.

Thus, the massage member may be prescribed by a physician for a particular wearers foot or may be of a generally universal shape capable of being used by different types of substantially normal feet. Of course, the article of footwear can be manufactured in any suitable size or sizes.

The massage member 44 is provided with a slanting downwardly and forwardly cam surface 50 which cooperates with the bearing surface 52 provided by an insert 54 of suitable longwearing material such as Masonite or the like when this article of footwear is adapted for use as a. shower clog and is manufactured out of wood.

As `canbeseen .from .an.insp.ectionloff.1:igs. .2, 3., and 4, when the wearer .takes a step, .and `the heel-part'26 is flexed with respect to the toe part 14, the distance between Vthe pivot pin 42 and -the hearing surface 52 will become slightly foreshortened while the hearing surface 52 is being raised relative to the pivot lpin 42. This will cause a camming action on the massage member causing it to vraise successively, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, to massage vthe instep ofthe wearers foot. Of course, the wearers foot will hold the massage member from becoming completely vdisposed outside vof the opening 46.

However, the amount Vof movement of the massage member 44 can vbe controlled by providing a slot '60 therethrough, see Figs. 5 .and 7. A shaft-62is xedly secured in the heel part 64 of this form of the invention and extends through the sloti with the walls ofthe slot 60 forming a stop for limiting the movement kof the massage member 44. Y

Thus it can be seen that there has been dened a therapeutic footwear, comprising a sole 12 having a foot Ypart 14 and a heel part 26. Pintles 38 and 40have been provided as hingedly securing the toe part to the heel part and the massage member 44 is pivoted to the toe part 14 by means of pin 42. The pivot pin 42 is oiset from the pintles 38 and 40 so as to permit camming action of the massage member 44.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing Vfrom the spirit and scope of the-present invention and it is intended that such obvious changes and modications be embraced by the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A therapeutic footwear comprising a sole'having a first part and a second part, means hingedly securing said first part to said second part, said iirst part and said second part having aligned recesses therein, a third part disposed in said recesses and pivoted to said first part at a location oifset from said means so that upon relative movement Yof said first and second parts at least a portion of said third part will be pivoted out of v`said recess.

2. A therapeutic footwear comprising a soleY having a iirst part and a second part, means hingedly securingvsaid iirst part to said second part, said rst'par't and said second part having aligned recesses therein, a third part disposed in said recesses land pivoted to said rst part at a location offset fromfsaid means so that upon relative movement of said iirst and second parts at least a portion of said third part will be pivoted out of said recess, said second part being provided with a bearing surface, said third part slidably engaging said bearing surface.

3. A therapeutic footwear comprising a sole having a rst part and a second part, means hingedly securing said irst part to said second part, -said first part and said second part having aligned recesses therein, .a third part disposed in said vrecesses and pivoted to said iirst part at a location oiset'from said means lso )that upon relative movement of said rst and second parts at least a portion of said third part will be pivoted out of said recess, said third part having an arcuate smooth upper surface for massaging the instep of a wearers foot.

4. The Yconstruction of A,claim l, including means for limiting pivoting action of said third part preventing the third part from pivoting entirely out of said recess.

5. A therapeutic footwear comprising a sole having a toe part and a heel part, means hingedly securing said toe part to said heel part to permit relative movement therebetween during Walking action of the user, said toe part and said heel part having aligned recesses therein forming in conjunction a central opening in said sole, a massage member disposed in said opening and pivoted to said toe part at a location oset from said means so that upon relative movement of said toe part and said heel part a ,portion of said massage member will be pivoted out of said recess.

6. The construction ofclaim 5, wherein said heel part is provided with a 'bearing surface slanting downwardly and forwardly, said massage member having a cam surface slidably engaging said bearing surface.

7. The construction of claim 5, wherein said toe part and said heel part are provided with intermeshing knuckles. l

lReferences Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pitz Mar. 25, 1952 

